New matchmaking system in PUBG has fans furious with developers

Steven Rondina Published 17/07/2019

The PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds development team is tackling one of the game’s most frustrating problems.

In a lengthy statement on the game’s Steam Community page, PUBG Corp discussed their plans to better streamline the matchmaking process. In the coming weeks, new features will be added which will ideally reduce queue times and give players more flexibility in terms of the matchmaking process.

“Matchmaking is crucial to this goal, and it is a high priority of ours to ensure our players the best game experience we can,” PUBG developer Daegon Kim said. “We know that our existing matchmaking systems have not always reflected the above, and some regions especially are experiencing excessive wait times to get into PUBG matches. With the above beliefs in mind, we’ve been working on improvements to our matchmaking system to better serve these regions.”

Included in this are details about new options on the matchmaking screen.

After beginning a queue for a certain map and game type, players will no longer have to restart a queue if a match is not found quickly. Instead, a pop-up menu will appear on screen and offer players the opportunity to instead search for a different game type. This same approach will be taken with regards to players’ regions.

To combat any potential issues from intercontinental matchmaking that may result from these changes, new restrictions will be placed on latency. Players will now be matched in part based on their ping to ensure players are not teamed up with people combating severe lag.

Additionally, different regions will have different matchmaking offerings based on standing queue times. Oceania and South America will no longer offer matchmaking for specific maps, instead forcing players to play on random maps. Meanwhile, North America will have a “Featured Map” alongside a random option. Players desperate to compete on a specific map will have the option of joining a preset match, albeit with a variety of restrictions including a forced solo queue. Preset matches will still offer players the opportunity to earn experience and rewards.

These changes have been largely panned by fans who are frustrated at trading shorter queue times for additional freedom in terms of where and how they play. The comments to the post were inundated with frustration from fans around the world and responses were similar on other social media platforms.

The new matchmaking system will be rolled out in the next update. The full post can be found on PUBG’s Steam Community page.

Steven Rondina

About Steven Rondina

Steven Rondina is a true lifelong gamer. His earliest memories are of playing video games, and he has continued playing them throughout his life with no plans to stop any time soon. Steven’s favorite franchises in gaming include Pokemon, Dark Souls, and Counter-Strike. He has previously published with Bleacher Report and other gaming outlets.

View full profile